Page 59: of Marine Technology Magazine (September 2021)

VideoRay www.videoray.com VideoRay is a long-tenured leader in the ROV market, start- Like other companies in the space, investment in improving ing in 1999 selling what then were essentially “swimming vid- and re? ning technology is a constant at VideoRay, and recent eo cameras” according to Chris Gibson, VP Sales & Market- investment targets an improved customer experience. “The ing. “But our business has really taken off over the last couple U.S. Navy measures us on a metric that they call operational of years. 2020 was a record revenue year for VideoRay, and availability, and that a key performance indicator that mea- in 2021 we are projecting 50% growth over 2020,” said Gib- sures how often a system is available,” said Gibson. “This has son, attributing this largely to a strong and growing defense been very good for us because it hits VideoRay right in one of business and a rebounding commercial market, primarily in our core strengths; reliability and robustness. But what we’ve offshore oil and gas, but also includes renewable civil infra- done is we’ve made it even better.” structure inspection, aquaculture and water management. Central to investment in making the user interface smoother

Headquartered in Pottstown, Pa., VideoRay is a leader in and easier for the user, is pushing the computing power “down man-portable ROV market. Its Mission Specialist technology through the tether,” delivering the power where it’s needed is based on modular components providing maximum ? exibil- most while minimizing the topside footprint. This means ity. The largest and most powerful Mission Specialist con? gu- the person using the ROV can be positioned on a small boat ration, the Defender, is optimized for precise control, heavier above, shoreside or half-way around the world.

payloads, lifting, and specialized operations. This also includes investment in autonomy, arti? cial intel-

The Pro 5 trades off larger payload, massive thrust, and more ligence and perception technologies. “Those three things precise autonomous control for more portability and lower are getting worked into almost everything that we do,” said cost. Mission Specialist technology is unique in the ability to Gibson. But at VideoRay, delivering new technologies does add new sensors and accessories from a broad range of manu- not necessarily mean that the end customer must purchase an facturers, as it supports a wide range of power and communi- entirely new system. “The nice thing about it is even with us cations options. with these expeditionary and workhorse products, the prod-

In early 2021, VideoRay launched new expeditionary and ucts that we ? rst delivered, the ? rst Defenders that we shipped workhorse Mission Specialist products. “Many of those were to customers years ago, can take these upgrades and basically developed in line with what we’re trying to do with our de- extend their capabilities without having to buy a new prod- fense business; making things rugged, more robust,” a tough- uct,” said Gibson. “And that’s the same way the autonomy, the ened system that is proving attractive to a number of commer- arti? cial intelligence and the perceptive technologies will be cial clients, too. when they’re commercially available.” www.marinetechnologynews.com 59

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